She stressed that support sanctions against the entourage of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Alexei Petukhov, Evgenia Shapovalova, Maxim Vylegzhanin and Yulia Ivanova were stripped of their medals won in Sochi in 2014 and banned for life from the Olympics.

"In response to our alleged interference in their election, they want to create problems for the election of the president of Russia", Putin said in the Urals city of Chelyabinsk. "There are very strong suspicions that all that is done because someone needs to create an atmosphere of discontent among sports fans and athletes over the state's alleged involvement in violations and responsibility for it".

Putin is also concerned about turnout in the March 2018 elections, Gabuev said.

Four U.S. officials say the countries are discussing a deal ahead of a potential meeting Friday between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have plummeted as a United States probe has accused Trump's former campaign aides of secretly meeting Kremlin-connected officials.

USA intelligence agencies said earlier this year the Russian government had sought to help Donald Trump win the election.

The US was home to "the main companies that order and pay for television rights, the main sponsors and advertisers", he said. With fewer than 100 days before the beginning of the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, the International Olympic Committee has still not made a decision about whether to let the country that hosted the 2014 Games participate.

The United States and Russian Federation are nearing an agreement on arrangements for Syria as the Islamic State group nears defeat. The investigation said the cheating peaked at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where Russian secret agents engineered an elaborate system of doping.